Stress Relief Activities & Tips – Why You Need Them

November 29th, 2009 . Posted in Stress Relief Activities | 1 Comment »
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Why You Need Stress Relief Activities For Your Health, Relationships & Your Work

Hi its Anthony here,

If you just found this site and you are struggling with stress in your life I hope you keep reading because I just wanted to highlight how important to relieve stress through activities both physical and mental by telling you just how close my own life came to total disaster before I found a way to relieve the stress and stop the downward spiral.

I don’t plan to pull any punches and will tell it like it was which was not pretty!

I was once a total stress head, worrier and panicker. I worked at a newspaper and if you have never worked in that environment then you may not know the pressure of deadlines and the pressure that online news has been putting on the industry. However there are many stressful jobs and I know mine was not the worst but it was causing me to lose it. I was also a single father with two sons aged 8 and 12 at the time of my worst stresses.

The pressures on my life were making me sick in both body and mind.

I found myself becoming sick more and more often which in turn added to my stress that i could not look after my kids or do my job. I also started to lose my temper more and more. When I was stressed I was a nightmare to around and i knew it, i would pick fights for no reasons and I would damage my friendships. I was also trying to start dating again which was NOT a good time and ended up destroying what could have been great relationships because my life was a mess and I could not control my emotions.

I firmly believe I was becoming clinically depressed.

I would not let this on though because I am stubborn and proud and still am to a degree but I knew I needed help. because I could now see that too much stress causes physical, mental and emotional problems that impact on every aspect of your life! I trawled the net and bookstores looking for ways to control my stress levels and found a lot of … well crap basically. I did get some tips which helped from this but I had a craving for more and more effective strategies I could apply.

Then I found an excellent resource that allowed me to turn all of this around!

Through this guides advice I managed to create a plan that started eliminating the stressful thoughts I had allowing me to be able to react to stressful situations without hitting the panic button. My children were amazed at the change in their old dad and told me so which made me feel great. From here I stopped falling ill when stressful times hit and was able to get back into the dating scene again. The only thing I say against this guide is that I needed to make the plan to use the tips they recommend as it is a bit of a haphazard collection … however the content itself is excellent.

My life is now hardly recognizable and I have become stress relief activities officer at work for which I use this guide I have been talking about as a bit of a bible but have created a lot of group work exercises too.

If you are feeling the effects of stress placing pressure on your emotional, physical and mental aspects of your life I highly recommend this instantly downloadable  guide called “Why make Yourself Crazy”.

Click Here to Check out ‘Why Make Yourself Crazy’

One Great Stress Relief Activity to Try at Work

November 25th, 2009 . Posted in Uncategorized, Work Stress Relief | 1 Comment »
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When at work a great stress relief activity is essential to keep yourself from going mad!

While there area many tings you need to do at work to stay calm and not stressed such as taking regular breaks, managing your workload, prioritizing tasks and eating a healthy diet there is one other activity I think works wonders.

Laugh!

This is one of the best ways to reduce stress at work and it is contagious! You start laughing others will join and the whole atmosphere of stress can evaporate. A simple joke or a clever email to your colleagues can set of a chain reaction of feel good giggles that will alleviate stress and lead to better productivity too.

I once just started laughing in the office for no reason at all other than I knew if i didnt i would end up screaming instead!

The effect was amazing as everyone else wanted to be in on the joke … everyone else wanted to feel good and remove that stress for a moment.

Try it next time you are stressed at work. Make yourself laugh or make someone else laugh and revel in the humor!

Activities for Stress Relief – Do They Work?

November 24th, 2009 . Posted in Stress Relief Activities | No Comments »
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Some people say that stress is all in your head and therefore activities that are physical are of no use to reduce stress but I disagree. Activities for stress relief influence your body and mind and work to reduce the symptoms and causes of stress across the board … besides some stress relief activities are mental activities anyway!

Physical activities to relieve stress should in fact be a central part of your stress management regime and by that I am referring to exercise. Exercise gives the body a natural high from the release of endorphins which combat negative thoughts and the boost given to your immune system and hormones from exercise work to counteract the bad hormones and lower immune system from chronic stress.

How you get this exercise may vary but the truth of it is that any physical activity with enough intensity will physiologically help your body to maintain a better balance and reduce stress at the same time.

Other activities to reduce stress can be more cognitive. Meditation for instance or music (listening or creating) will help you reduce stress by allowing you a release of creativity or anger than has been building up inside or in the case of meditations a way to let all that pent up frustration ebb away.

So do these activities work? The short answer is yes … but not everyone reduces stress the same way. There are many common activities that anyone can use but only you can choose the right set of activities that will help you the most.

Stress Relief Activities Are Good For You!

November 24th, 2009 . Posted in Stress Relief Activities | 1 Comment »
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Knowing a few good stress relief activities for various situations is a great help to help you remove the pressures of life that build up daily from work and your personal life. Knowing how to help others de-stress is also a good thing if you manage people at work too so you have a less stressed team.

The reason activities to reduce stress are so good is because of the negative effects that stress can have on a person. We are in fact only just starting to understand exactly how stress can impact on our psychology as well as our physical health. Some problems stress causes:

Mental

  • Anxiety & Panic Attacks – Those prone to anxiety can have major flare ups from continued stress. Those that do not usually suffer from anxiety however can develop symptoms of anxiety disorders because of the stress and hormonal changes that can bring.
  • Depression – Chronic stress can lead to excess stress hormones which can lead to a lack of energy and negative thoughts which can trigger a depressive state.
  • Focus - Stress can interfere with your learning and decision making centers if the stress is consistent and strong making it had to focus and do your job or live your life in general!
  • Personality Changes – Ever seen a normal guy become a major grump or an aggressive workmate if you add juts a bit of stress? Many people under stress undergo personality change that is out of character for them because of stress.

Physical

  • Lower Immune System – Studies have shown that high stress levels have a negative impact in our physical health by lowering our immune system responses making it easier to get sick.
  • Hormonal Imbalance – Many ailments are caused by hormonal imbalances. Women in particular are vulnerable to a number of issues caused by hormone imbalance and the reason for the hormone changes is because hormones produced from stress interfere with the balance by using pathways usually used by more regular hormones. Long term stress can really through this balance out.
  • Aggravate Conditions – Related to a lower immune system, if you already have a medical condition a high level of stress can aggravate that condition making it hard to live with and treat.

As you can see stress relief activities are one facet of reducing stress and for a good reason … your health depends on it!